The Next Duke

Thirty Five

The ring was sitting in the middle of the antique shop. The man dressed in a black trench coat entered the shop and bought the ring. The man smiled bitterly, he knew a woman would love to have thing ring. She had been looking for this ring for a long time. He got into a taxi cab and gave him his address and went home.

"Hey Charlotte, daddy's home!" He called out to the little girl playing with a plush toy in the living room and was surrounded by other dolls and play things.

The one two year old gave him a cheeky smile. "Daddy's home! Mama's burning pancakes!" his little girl announced.

Andrew chuckled and went straight to the kitchen. Just as his daughter said, his wife was facing the stove holding a spatula. With a chuckle, he took it from her hands. "I can't make the pancakes for the children," she said almost tearfully.

Andrew had to force himself to stop smiling. Cooking wasn't her skill. He was the cook in the house. But sometimes, his wife loved to experiment once in a while. "It's all right, love. I am sure we can do something about it. Did you follow the recipe in the box?"

The woman burst into tears, "I did, but it just keeps burning itself."

"Where is Dexter? I didn't see him with Charlie," he remarked.

"He's in the backyard. She came home early today," Keiko said looking at her husband.

Andrew frowned, "She's home early? She's usually home late. Do you think something happened?" he asked worriedly.

"No, I don't think so, but she's made dinner so you don't have to worry about cooking anything," she rushed out and watched him leave and go to the backyard.

"Hey, is everything all right?" he spoke softly.

The woman in front of him gave him a frown, "No, I didn't faint today. But I am here to pack my stuff."

Andrew frowned, "Pack? Where are you going?"

"To England. It seems we have a referral and we're going there to arrange a wedding," she replied with a frown.

Andrew looked at his sister with a frown, ever since she woke up in the morgue, she had forgotten everything. She had forgotten most of her life, she knew how to do most things. She could still drive and make a car from scratch. But she had forgotten the more important memories. Like who she was and who her family was.

Lillian was a medical miracle. Charlotte, the baby she carried, helped her live mostly, she repaired her mother's organs as she developed in her mother's uterus. True, the doctors really tried to their best to bring her back making research dedicate to stem cell development in order to bring her back to life. At first they thought she wasn't going to make it since she didn't respond to treatment. But after giving birth to the baby via C-Section and hearing her husband's voice, she responded. It was as though her soul had returned to her body and she woke up a day after Joseph's last visit. She was already in the morgue about to be placed in a body bag to be sent to the funeral home. But no one noticed how warm her flesh was and how flush her cheeks were. It was only the workers in the funeral home who told them that the woman was still alive. When that happened, Andrew did his best to keep her in secret.

They gave her a closed casket funeral. Joseph knew it was a cruel thing to do. But he had to if he wanted to keep his sister alive. Joseph was not able to protect Lillian, thus the man didn't deserve a precious jewel that was his sister.

It was a year long torture during the clinical trials. Lillian was constantly in pain when she finally woke up. Physical strength was among her problems. Her muscles had lost their strength. Her brother also had requested give her cosmetic surgery to cover up her c-section just in case she asked about Charlotte.  What was another bridge to cross. They also took care of her gunshot wounds, Andrew didn't want her to have any memories of that fateful night. And right now, all she knew Charlotte was her brother's daughter and her coloring came from Keiko's distant family.